Men's Swimming and Diving takes second at Texas Invitational
AUSTIN, Texas -- Top-ranked Texas completed the sixth and final session of its Texas Invitational with a pair of NCAA automatic-qualifying performances Saturday evening at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The Longhorns placed second with 696.50 points while Arizona took top honors with 787 points. Stanford placed third with 552 points. The Texas divers saved their best performances of the meet for last, as the Longhorn duo of junior Brian Smith (Carrollton, Texas) and freshman Mike Wong (Cerritos, Calif.) took first and second in the platform-diving event. Smith took top honors with 330.85 points, and Wong took second with 318.50 points. Sophomore Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) registered an impressive showing in the 1,650-yard freestyle, taking second in the event in 14:55.08. Klueh's swim fell under the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard by over 10 seconds. Freshman Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) scored a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly, as the top three finishers posted the three fastest times in the country. Berens automatically qualified for participation at the 2007 NCAA Championships in 1:44.54, topping the NCAA "A" cut standard of 1:44.93. Two Longhorns added NCAA "B" cut swims in the 200 backstroke. Junior Caleb McDermott (Canyon Lake, Texas) placed fourth in 1:46.39, and in the "B" final, senior Tommy Sacco (Dallas, Texas) took third in 1:47.07. Junior Matt Lowe (Minot, N.D.) added an eighth-place showing in the 200 breaststroke in 2:02.38. World-record holder and former Longhorn Brendan Hansen claimed the event in 1:55.58. Junior Matt McGinnis (Raleigh, N.C.) contributed an eighth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 44.28 for a NCAA provisional-qualifying mark. Finally, the UT 400 freestyle relay quartet of McGinnis, freshman Dave Walters (Yorktown, Va.), McDermott and Berens placed third in 2:58.46, good for another NCAA provisional-qualifying mark. Texas returns to action on Jan. 12, 2007 at Auburn.
|
|
